Well, typical Seattle weather this weekend so another day and no sound in the ride. A co-worker suggested I rig up a garbage bag tent around my car so I can get work done in the rain. I suggested he go back to his desk and check out the news on SoundDomain instead:

• Rich Truesdell told you about the Garmin Nüvifone  not too long ago. Well videos have come forth from Garmin and this phone could quite possibly the ultimate iPhone killer!!
• Adding an Xbox to your car’s audio/video system is not too uncommon these days, but disassembling and custom-installing the separate components is not so common. These guys take apart an Xbox and show you some ideas on how to custom-mount a system in your ride.
• MECP is an installer certification program in the mobile electronics industry, similar to ASE certification for a mechanic. It represents the best of the best in the industry, separating the men from the boys. But if you want to take your skills "out-of-this-world", why not go for NASA standards!
• The Tracer Heads-Up Display (HUD) is a design study that incorporates GPS, HUD technology, and SMS text messaging. The cool part of this is the Heads-Up display, the scary part is if you start speeding, it sends a text message to your parents. Doh!
• Crazy man Steve Meade got a chance to demo his tuff Tahoe for Ice Cube’s producers, Teak and Dee. Needless to say, even those these guys listen to bangin’ beats all day long, they weren’t prepared for Steve to push the magic button in his system! Watch ‘em squirm!

Cars that talk to each other? Phones that tell you where to go? Hybrid capacitors with LCD displays? "What is he ON?!", you must be thinking. I’m on….top of the mobile electronics news that’s what I on! Here’s some SoundDomain news you might have missed:

• OEM automotive supplier Denso Electronics is developing a car-to-car communications system to make your car smarter and safer.
• Images and some details on Mio’s newest portable navigation devices, the Moov 200 and Moov 300, were leaked early and we got the images. Simple and sexy.
• Stinger introduced an updated line of 15 and 30 farad hybrid capacitors. The caps are chromed and highlighted with blue LED accents, and a blue LCD display that gives voltage and current draw.
• Portable navigation leader Garmin released the deets on the new Garmin Nüvifone. They have a real winner here – a great-looking mobile phone with a true Garmin GPS device inside. From what we can tell, this thing pretty much does it all and does it all very well.

For most people, commercials are the highlight of the Super Bowl, and while the General was the only one of the Big Three to air one, there were still some awesome automotive spots. Cars.com offered some interesting negotiation techniques, Bridgestone narrowly avoided killing Richard Simmons and Alice Cooper, Audi introduced its snarling R8 in a sweet Godfather-themed spot, Garmin used Napoleon to drive home that their units are small and powerful and Toyota used badgers and big wheels to great effect. Which was your favorite?

For some people, one of the hurdles of going with a portable navigation system over an installed unit is the display size. Well, the guys at Garmin have taken care of that by introducing the Nuvi 5000, a portable navigation device which sports a large 5.2" display. Along with that, they’ve included an external signal display function, FM TMC traffic receiver capability, the ability to display MSN dynamic content and a sweet function which lets users input destinations directly from their home PC. And since today’s navigation devices can’t just be navigation devices, the Nuvi 5000 offers a few other trick features like an internal MP3 player, an audio book reader and built in games. Check out more pics over at the SoundDomain Blog!